The meeting of Anatoly Rubinov with Czech parliamentarians took place

       On 20 January 2009 a meeting of Mr Anatoly Rubinov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, with the delegation of Czech parliamentarians headed by Mr Vojtěch Filip, Vice-Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, took place in the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. Ms Nina Mazay, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic for Foreign Affairs and National Security, and Mr Viktor Guminsky, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives for National Security, also took part in the meeting.

       The sides discussed acute issues of the relations of the Republic of Belarus and the European Union, where the Czech Republic acquired presidency in January 2009. The Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic underlined the necessity of establishing friendly and neighbourly relations between the Republic of Belarus and European countries and creating favourable political climate. Our country is interested in extending cooperation with the European Union and hopes for the constructive position of the Czech Republic in this matter.

       Mr V.Filip in his turn assured the Belarusian side that the Czech Republic was ready to render support to the Republic of Belarus within the framework of the OSCE and other European structures, and stated that the development of Belarusian-Czech interaction in various directions had good prospects.

       The participants of the meeting noted that the relations between our countries in the spheres of trade, economy, science, culture and education had great potential. Special attention was paid to the environment protection issues. In particular they discussed the opportunities of cooperation in overcoming the Chernobyl Atomic Power Plant disaster and maintaining safe use of atomic energy.